Botany and Ormiston Times : Howick and Botany Times Wednesday September 17

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Howick and Botany Times, Wednesday, September 17, 2014 — 3
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New beginning for garden whare
By Marianne Kelly
SEA mist swirled in to Howick’s
Garden of Memories at dawn last
Saturday, enveloping iwi and local
government politicians gathered
there.
Just as quickly it was swept out,
taking 10 year’s angst over a little
whare away with it, and the building’s
new name, Matariki, was revealed
and blessed.
Matariki is a special Maori occa-
sion, celebrated with education,
remembrance and the planting of
new trees and crops, signalling new
beginnings.
It’s also a time to learn about the
land and to remember whakapapa
(ancestry) who have passed from this
world to the next and the legacy they
left behind.
Emilia Maud Nixon, who’s legacy
was the subject of ceremonies on
Saturday, was to the forefront of peo-
ple’s thoughts as they celebrated the
opening of the new whare (meeting
house) at the Emilia Maud Nixon
Garden of Memories.
It replaces a building damaged
by fire in 2004 at the property in
Uxbridge Road where Miss Nixon
lived from 1870 until her death in
1962.
At the official powhiri, Auckland
Mayor Len Brown was escorted into
the garden to a rousing haka by stu-
dents of Pakuranga, Macleans and
Howick Colleges, and welcomed
by Ngai Tai ki Tamaki Tribal Trust
chairman James Brown, as a “son of
Otara, a man of the people”.
“We are here to celebrate the start
for our new whare. It’s a day for us to
step confidently forward into tomor-
row,” Mr Brown said.
Close to 200 people, Ngai Tai and
Tainui iwi, members of the Howick
Local Board and from the local com-
munity came to see Mayor Brown
officially unveil a plaque to open the
whare.
Board chairman David Collings
acknowledged the former education
provider, Te Roopu Awhina o Wai-
roa and Kaitiaki Taonga (guardian)
Taini Drummond.
“This is an emotional time for
Taini. She has come through a long
journey,” he said.
“I am honoured to be able to shout
out the name, Matariki. It’s special
to me, being pakeha and part of the
journey we have had here.”
A murmur of approval swept
through the iwi as Mr Collings apolo-
gised for his past stance.
“I am guilty of being on the wrong
side of the debate in some people’s
eyes,” he said.
“I acknowledge that past and
ask for forgiveness. I’m not saying
we should forget it. But I’m being
straight-up and honest. There is a
good feeling here today and I hope
that continues.”
Mayor Brown said when he became
an Otara elected representative on
the former Manukau City Council
in 1992, one of the first debates was
about Emilia Maud Nixon and the
garden, “about how we should take it
forward and invest in it”.
“I learned a lot about Emilia Maud
Nixon. The discussion was always
emotive, but that’s okay. There was
broad opinion.
“At the time I wondered if we
would ever get here. And now we
have Matariki, the new dawning
and a preparedness to move into the
future,” he said.
“There was quite a discussion
about Emilia’s will. She left the land
to us all – the mayor and councillors
for the benefit of the people.
“She said she believed it would be
of benefit to the community, around
recreation, education, cultural inter-
ests and appreciation of historic
development.
“The will was subject to much
scrutiny and major discussion. That
is behind us,” Mayor Brown said.
Addressing the students, he said:
“It is you I turn to now. This is a place
of history and culture, a place to learn
about the history of all our people.
“It’s about passing on the knowl-
edge and understanding. There is
one person who would be pleased
to see how we are doing. She would
be beaming today – Emilia Maud
Nixon.”
After leading the students in a
waiata, Mayor Brown invited them
and a group of “littlies” to join him as
he unveiled the plaque.
Miss Nixon’s museum, Te Rauko-
hekohe, was also renamed Te Whare
Taonga, “treasure house”.
The change was made because
Ngai Tai iwi asked that no ancestral
names be associated with the whare,
in order to preserve their tribal mana
and integrity and not obligate the
tribe to any specific oversight of the
whare.
Ngai Tai removed their ances-
tral name, Whare O Torere, when
construction of the new building
started.
The garden is a public reserve
managed by the Howick Local Board
and includes a paved courtyard and
the native bush valley known as the
Tainui Garden of Memories.
The whare will be available for
bookings as a venue for weddings,
school groups, meetings and events.
It can hold up to 50 people and Mon-
day to Saturday bookings can be
made. A cultural educational pro-
gramme is planned for the coming
months once a contract is issued to
an independent organisation.
Bookings can be made by contact-
ing the Auckland Council’s call centre
on 301-0101, or emailing venuehire@
aucklandcouncil.govt.nz.
Clockwise from
top left, Auckland
Mayor Len Brown
declares the
Emilia Maud
Nixon Garden of
Memories whare
opened, watched
on by members
of the next
generation and,
standing, from
left, Howick Local
Board chairman
David Collings,
elected members
Jim Donald and
Adele White, and
Kaitiaki Taonga
(guardian) Taini
Drummond;
Mayor Len Brown
leads students
of Pakuranga,
Macleans and
Howick Colleges
in a waiata for
the newly-opened
whare, Matariki;
Representatives
of Ngai Tai
and Tainui iwi
joined elected
Howick Local
Board members
and people
of the Howick
community to
celebrate the
opening; it was
an emotional
time for Taini
Drummond, left,
and Song Lam,
of Howick, a
writer of books
that translate
Maori stories into
Chinese.
Times photos PJ Taylor